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CCTV

Darlington Borough Council provides a professional and proactive Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring function. We coordinate operations with Durham Constabulary and other statutory enforcement partners, over the years the CCTV operation has proved to be an essential tool in reducing crime and disorder in Darlington. The system comprises a number of cameras installed at strategic locations in the district, whose images are fed back to the control room based in the Town Hall. The control room operates a 24-hour a day, 365 day service, and acts as a contact centre for the Towns Shop/Pub watch radio link. This allows rapid reporting from business to business of any crime and community safety issues such as anti-social behaviour, alcohol related disorder and theft. We also provide call handling facilities and a contact point for Darlington Borough Councils lifeline services.

The following objectives have been established since CCTV began operating in 1994

reducing the fear of crime

deterring and preventing crime

assisting in the maintenance of public order and reducing offences involving vandalism and nuisance

providing high quality evidence which may assist in the detection of crime and the apprehension and prosecution of offenders.

protecting property

providing assistance with civil claims

providing assistance with issues relating to public safety and health providing assistance and reassurance to the public in emergency situations

We provide the following services:

monitoring of CCTV cameras both private and commercial

monitoring of intruder, fire and other alarms, both private and commercial

monitoring of lone worker systems

a contact for all Councils car parks

access to the bollards to the pedestrian heart areas

traffic reports to the local radio stations

We also can offer a range of services to businesses including linking their alarms to our monitoring centre and monitoring their CCTV cameras.

The control room staff are all fully vetted, trained and licensed and they work to the highest standards. Because of the sensitivity of the information handled within the Control Room visits are restricted but may be arranged by prior appointment.

For more information please contact the control room security manager on 01325 388355.

Access to information

Public requests for access to CCTV footage under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Data Protection Act 1998 will be handled by the Corporate Information Governance Officer who can be contacted on 01325 388905 or dataprotection@darlington.gov.uk

Darlington Borough Councils CCTV code of practice [pdf document] covers the operation of the CCTV system. It includes links to the various pieces of legislation governing the CCTV system, including Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

All staff employed to work in the control room have an advanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) vetting check carried out on them. A Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence [external link] which allows them to operate the CCTV cameras for third parties under contract.